The Future of Quantum Theory: A Way Out of the Impasse

TL;DR

This paper proposes a paradigm shift in quantum theory by reinterpreting dependencies and relaxing assumptions, potentially enabling deterministic extensions beyond current indeterminism.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective on quantum foundations by distinguishing causal, counterfactual, and statistical dependencies, suggesting a way to extend quantum theory.

Findings

Reinterpretation of dependencies resolves foundational issues

Proposes non-Nashian free choice concept

Suggests deterministic extensions of quantum theory are possible

Abstract

In this letter, we point to three widely accepted challenges that the quantum theory, quantum information, and quantum foundations communities are currently facing: indeterminism, the semantics of conditional probabilities, and the spooky action at a distance. We argue that these issues are fundamentally rooted in conflations commonly made between causal dependencies, counterfactual dependencies, and statistical dependencies. We argue that a simple, albeit somewhat uncomfortable shift of viewpoint leads to a way out of the impossibility to extend the theory beyond indeterminism, and towards the possibility that sound extensions of quantum theory, possibly even deterministic yet not super-deterministic, will emerge in the future. The paradigm shift, which we present here, involves a non-trivial relaxation of the commonly accepted mathematical definition of free choice, leading to non-Nashian free choice, more care with the choice of probabilistic notations, and more rigorous use of vocabulary related to causality, counterfactuals, and correlations, which are three concepts of a fundamentally different nature.